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County, Madison wrestlers advance to district tournament

michael greco, star beacon, ashtabula, ohio
·3 min read

Feb. 26—Wrestlers took the first step to reaching Columbus with the sectional tournament on Saturday.

For Ashtabula County schools, Lakeside competed at the Division I Massillon Perry site; Jefferson and Geneva were at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, and Edgewood, Kenston in DII; Conneaut, Pymatuning Valley and Grand Valley at Berkshire and Saint John at Beachwood in D-III.

Madison went to the D-II West Branch site.

The top-four in each weight class advanced to the district tournament next weekend. Finishing fifth was good for alternate status.

D-I

The Dragons had eight district qualifiers and one alternate.

Hassani Sy finished second at 175 pounds; Lucas Eland, 120; Jerrod Adair, 150 and King Wright, 157, all third and Jacob Strailey, 132; Alex Echeverria, 138; Owen Canter, 144 and Abi Ortiz, 215, each fourth.

Christian Fleissner took fifth at 165.

"I'm very proud with how we wrestled," Lakeside coach Andrew Horvath said. "We approached it like a job we had to do all week, and the boys were all business from the moment they got on the bus."

The Dragons will compete at the Hoover district Friday and Saturday.

D-II

The Falcons advanced five to the district tournament, led by Matt Webster's first at 190.

Webster secured three pins en route to his title, including the last one at 5:43 over Ravenna's David Davis in the finals.

"Matt Webster wrestled well and put himself in a favorable start for districts next weekend," Jefferson coach Cody Lewis said.

Jonathon Bissell placed third at 138, while Jacob Lewis, Caleb Ballash and DJ Partridge were fourth at 126, 132 and 150, respectively.

Dakota Fertig posted fifth at 120.

"Bissell lost a scramble in the last 30 seconds that cost him in the semis," Lewis said. "I felt like we wrestled well, despite being shorthanded. Taking five out of eight to districts and another as an alternate isn't a bad showing."

For the Eagles, Tanner Williams, at 106; Dominic Palmisano, 157 and Nigel Platt, 175, all notched third.

Daniel Riddell placed fifth at 150.

"I don't feel we wrestled to our expectations," Geneva coach Ron Cerjan said. "We had a few tough draws, but feel we could've got a few more out."

The Warriors produced five district qualifiers, including one sectional champion.

Kyle Vencill won the 157 title with a 23-5 tech fall over Roosevelt's Gavin Edwards in the championship match.

Also for Edgewood, Zeke Lucas was second at 175; Greg Hellmbright, third, 120 and Michael Ochoa, 150 and Chris Skwera, 190, fourth.

The Blue Streaks qualified nine to the district tournament.

Jack Harrison, at 126, and Izaiah Siler, 157, both finished first.

In the finals, Harrison earned a 5-2 decision over Marlington's Luke Stanley, while Siler defeated Cloverleaf's Hayden Jarvis by an 8-2 score. Also for Madison, Noah Blough recorded second at 165; Jordan McCullough, 113, Ashton Zembower, 138, and Addison Trisket, 144, all earned third and Aidian Pastor, 106, Demitry Navarro, 190 and Chase White, 215, both placed fourth.

Sonny Salajcik, at 157, and Cam Mullins, 285, both finished fifth.

Madison finished second in the team scoring with 205.5 points, after Salem's 208.

The district tournament is Friday and Saturday at Kenston.

D-III

Three Heralds are heading to the district tournament at Independence on Friday and Saturday.

Joe Piccirillo, at 157, and Aiden Heath, 175, both placed second, while Dalton Nellis was third at 285.

Noah Heath registered fifth at 190.